Return Of The Nightmare Man
by SJAandDWfan
Summary: Rani,Clyde,Luke and Sarah Jane all have to watch as they see their worst fears at night, but can they defeat the Nightmare Man again? Clani towards the end. First fic so go easy please
1. Chapter 1

**Hi yeah this is my first fanfiction story ever! I've started writing this at 1:37 pm (well in the UK anyways). Sorry if it's not that good. (Dunno if my spellchecker's working)**

**Summary: Rani, Clyde, Luke and Sarah Jane all have to watch as they see their worst fears at night, but can they defeat the Nightmare Man again? Clani at the end.**

**Rated: K+**

**Genre: Adventure/ Sci-fi/ Romance**

**Pairings: Clyde/ Rani**

**Set: Anytime after "Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith"**

All was quiet on Bannerman Road, for once. It was 11pm and most people were asleep. But Rani Chandra was awake, reading "Marley And Me", another book they had to read by tomorrow, and another book that her friend Clyde probably hadn't even started yet. She had nearly finished and the story was getting a bit sadder, as the decision was made to put Marley down. She was so absorbed in the book, she didn't see a purple flash outside the window; nobody did. Not even Sarah Jane Smith.

Finally, 10 minutes later, Rani had finished the book. It had been such a sad ending, and now Rani sighed as she turned the bedside lamp off. If Clyde hadn't read the book, which was very likely, she would have to fill him in on the details tomorrow. She soon fell asleep without another thought.

_She was in the street, facing Sarah Jane's house. 'This is so weird.', she thought, 'I don't remember getting up this morning.' She was snapped back into the present__ as a scream went up from Sarah Jane's driveway. She sprinted over the road, prepared for the worst, and Sarah Jane screamed again. Looking for the source, Rani discovered a girl, slightly smaller than she was, with black hair and dark eyes standing with a huge grin on her face facing Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde. Maria. She was back._

_Rani had never met Maria in the flesh, only web chatted to her a couple of years ago, but she had changed since then. Sure, she had been very pretty then, but now she was beautiful, no wonder Luke was staring at her with his mouth slightly open, but what surprised her more was that Clyde was doing the same thing. For a reason she denied, she felt a pang of jealousy as she saw Clyde walk over to Maria and hug her, Luke following suit, though she didn't care about that._

_Suddenly, she saw Sarah Jane looking at her oddly._

"_Can I help you Rani?", she asked, seeming a little frosty._

"_Um… I heard someone scream and I thought they might need help"_

"_Well we're fine, thank you very much.", she said, no warmer than her last sentence._

"_Oh, ok", Rani replied. "Shall we all go up to the attic?" The others nodded and walked into the house, Luke and Clyde jostling to be as close to Maria as possible._

"_Hi Maria.", Rani said to the other girl, trying to sound as friendly as possible, though she was starting to dislike her._

"_Oh, hello Rani", Maria said, not seeming too interested._

_Rani decided to greet the boys instead. "Hey Luke." Luke didn't answer, instead he looked away as though embarrassed to be talking to her. She decided to find out what was going on._

"_Clyde, could I talk to you, please?"_

"_Sure"_

_Outside the attic, Rani decided to cut to the chase._

"_Clyde, you do know that you and Luke are practically falling over yourselves for Maria, don't you?"_

"_Yeah, so?" Clyde asked defensively._

"_It's just… I thought you…um, liked…me." She stumbled over her words._

"_You?", Clyde asked, "what idiot would like an ugly, stupid and worthless girl like you?" He walked back into the attic, leaving Rani open-mouthed. _

_Is that how he really felt about her? She could've sworn otherwise, after the whole Robot thing not long ago. She was unable to stop tears forming in her eyes. 'Rani Chandra does not cry over something as insignificant as this' she thought to herself. Just as she'd steadied herself, she heard a cackling laugh coming from around her, a flash of purple._

Rani Chandra woke with a start.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi again, I've had a really nice review within a couple of hours which is brilliant. Thank you Smithyloverforeverx-x-x, it means a lot as people aren't generally interested in my stories. Oh well, I'm rambling so ON WITH THE STORY!**

It was almost midnight, but Clyde Langer was still awake, drawing a comic strip of his own. If his art teacher reckoned he could be a comic strip artist, then he would need to perfect his skills. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the cover of 'Marley And Me', the book they were meant to be reading. He had read the first few pages, but quickly got bored and had a brilliant inspiration for a comic.

He put the finishing touches to the head of the Groske, making sure he had captured the creature's enthusiasm for the pizza slice in its hand. He had met Groske at the Doctor's faked funeral. It had called him smelly, but he 'smelled of time' because of the residual Artron energy that the Doctor keyed into. Even now he wasn't sure he completely understood. He, in retaliation to the Groske, called him short, which called Rani to say to him, "Clyde, of all the things for you to make fun of: height!", which Clyde was pretty sure was meant to poke fun at the fact that she was taller than him. It wasn't fair, she wasn't _that_ taller than he was.

He found himself thinking about Rani now, about how the two of them larked about, were sometimes a bit awkward, and how they sometimes argued. He still felt bad about yelling at her during the whole 'Ruby' incident, it wasn't her fault that Sarah Jane had gone. He still hadn't apologised to Rani for that, he must do that in the morning.

He threw himself down on his bed, and fell asleep where he was, sprawled on the duvet.

_He was walking to school by himself, yawning he didn't know why, he just assumed he was tired. No wonder he didn't remember anything other than walking to school.__ No waking up and no recollection of eating breakfast. He remembered suddenly that he hadn't read 'Marley And Me', so as soon as he got in through the school gates, he set about finding Rani, not only for information about the book, but also to apologise properly for shouting at her._

_The first Chandra he met, though, was Rani's dad, Haresh._

"_Clyde!", he called joyfully, "Hope you've read 'Marley And Me'! I've always found it a very moving book, you know-"_

"_No sir, I haven't read it", said Clyde, feeling thoroughly confused as to why Mr Chandra was being so friendly towards him._

_Mr Chandra stopped dead, looking more confused than Clyde did._

"_But Clyde, you've always been the most eager reader I've ever known as a teacher!"_

"_What?", was all Clyde could come out with. Since when had he been an 'eager reader'?_

"_Oh Clyde, you simply must read it, it's truly delightful!"_

"_Yeah, yeah, of course I'll read it sir…" Clyde was thoroughly bewildered, even more so when Mr Chandra gave him a cheery wave and marched off. This wasn't how Clyde was treated, this was always how Luke was treated._

_He walked into the classroom for their first lesson, Maths. Of all the pointless subjects. Unfortunately, Rani sat on the opposite side of the classroom to Clyde, so he would have to ask her later about the book._

"_Alright everyone!", Mr Cunningham called to the room at large, "I've graded your homework on algebra!". He began to pass them out, making comments as he went._

_When he reached Finney, who sat next to him, Clyde was beginning to feel nervous. He never got nervous about grades in anything other than Art, least of all Maths. Mr Cunningham was upon him._

"_Very nice work, Clyde, as usual." He handed Clyde his book back, and when Clyde looked inside, he saw he had gotten an 'A'. Since when did he get A's in Maths?_

"_Well done to everyone, especially Clyde!" Mr Cunningham called out, clapping him. A few other students followed suit, but Rani rolled her eyes as she did so. "A perfect run of A's for the whole term!"_

_The rest of the lesson was uneventful, and Clyde was glad to escape the room, his cheeks burning. Thankfully, he caught up with Rani, and for some strange reason, Luke, outside Rani's locker. _

"_Hey Rani, Luke!" Something was wrong with Luke being there but Clyde couldn't put his finger on it. Something was very weird._

_His train of thought was interrupted as he saw Luke lean in and kiss Rani. He pulled away and whispered something to her, making her giggle in a very un-Rani-ish way, before he departed. Rani spun around and saw Clyde standing there, agog._

"_What?", she asked defensively._

"_N-nothing", he replied, slightly mind-blown, "H-how long have you and Luke been going out?"_

"_A month", Rani replied, looking confused, "You should know, seeing as you were the one who hooked us up!"_

"_Wha-?" Clyde exclaimed, he had not done anything of the sort. He'd rather die than see Rani go out with someone else, not that he'd ever tell her that, of course. Clyde's cool rule number 2: deny all emotion, especially when involving girls. "Um, see you then". He finally realised why it was odd that Luke was there: he was meant to be at Oxford. He heard a laugh echoing around him and a flash of purple._

Clyde Langer woke up, horrified.


	3. Chapter 3

**Me again! I really want to get this story moving along so I'm updating quite early. There's no point in setting myself a time to post as I'll never do it at the right time. So, here's chapter 3! :)**

Luke Smith sat in his room at Oxford, finishing an essay on 'The Anatomy Of The Average Human Being'. He really loved being at Uni, it was so exciting. Of course, it was nothing compared to fighting aliens and saving the Earth, but it was brilliant all the same. He heard Sanjay calling goodnight to everyone in the hall, and a flick of a switch as it went dark along the hall. He looked at his bedside clock: half-past eleven; he should really be getting to sleep.

As he lay in his bed, his thoughts drifted to his mother and his two best friends. The good times, like finding Sarah Jane and Maria and Clyde and later Rani and saving the world from Androvax and The Trickster. Also he thought of the not-so-good times, like all the points when he thought he was going to die; the Blathereen's Rakweed was brought strongly to the fore of his super alien mind. He thought of when Maria left; he had never lost anybody before that; of course he was still in contact with her via e-mail, but it wasn't the same as defending the world with her and the others.

_He was driving. He found himself pulling up outside number 13, Bannerman Road. His heart leapt at the thought of seeing his mum again. He climbed out of his car, locked the doors, and made his way to the front door. Sarah Jane's car was there, so he assumed, unless they were on foot, his old gang were in the house. He rang the doorbell, and waited. And waited. And waited._

_Finally the front door opened, and there stood Sarah Jane Smith with a massive smile lighting up her features, though, surprisingly, it died somewhat as she saw Luke. He found this odd, but said anyway, "Hi mum! I thought I'd stop by as I've got the weekend off."_

"_Oh, hello Luke", she said, looking behind her as a voice he recognised as Rani's called out, "Sarah Jane, who is it?"_

"_Don't worry, Rani, it's only Luke!"_

"_Only Luke?", Luke asked disbelievingly, "I'm your son!"_

"_I know that! Rani was just expecting Clyde, he said he would stop by today to see about a movie."_

"_Oh. Can I come in?"_

_Sarah Jane let him into the house and he saw Rani sitting in the front room, playing with her hair, a classic sign she was bored._

"_Hi, Rani" Luke greeted the teenager, who only nodded in reply, "Where's Clyde?"_

"_Dunno" Rani replied, "He was working on a comic project last time I went round. It was really good, he's brilliant at Art, better than any of us. He uses some of the aliens we've faced in them"_

"_But isn't that a bit dangerous?"_

_Rani shrugged and looked out the window. "He's here!", she shouted suddenly, jumping up and running to the door._

_Clyde strolled in and said "Hi Luke, I was just at my mate Finney's house. We were doing some designs and even he agreed mine were better. He's brilliant". Luke was quite uncomfortable about Clyde spending time with other people. "What exactly were you drawing?"_

"_Just leave it Luke, it's none of your business!", Clyde shouted, "Just 'cuz you're jealous about me having a new mate, you forgot us pretty quickly!"_

_Clyde's outburst stunned Luke into silence._

"_Finally, brain-box-boy has shut his mouth!", Rani jeered at him, walking over to stand between Sarah Jane and Clyde, "Beaten into silence by someone who's cooler than him."_

_Luke's phone buzzed. He flipped up the screen to discover he'd received a text from Oxford._

_It read:_

"_Luke Smith, regret to inform you that we are dropping you from the University after your shocking essay on 'The Anatomy Of The Average Human Being'."_

_He had read it out loud, but immediately regretted doing so, because all three of them burst out laughing as his phone slipped to the ground._

Back in Oxford, Luke woke up in a cold sweat.


	4. Chapter 4

**Before I start this chapter, I'd just like to make a shout-out to all the people who've reviewed my story. Massive thank-you's go to Smithyloverforeverx-x-x, Walking Through The Rain, AmyVS7, Kuyoyo and Martha Smith-Jones. Sorry if I've forgotten anybody. I've had requests for more clani, so I'll get this chapter outta the way first.**

Sarah Jane Smith was in the attic, finishing a report on the computer about a cover-up of the hologram meteors that everyone had seen whilst they had been defeating Ruby White, the Qetesh that had almost killed Sarah Jane and Clyde. Mr Smith had sent a copy of the report to other countries, but Sarah Jane needed this copy for possible future reference.

She checked the computer clock in the bottom right-hand corner: 1 in the morning. Her mouth dropped open; she must have lost track of the time, lots. She saved the report, switched her computer off, and left the attic for her bed.

As she lay down her thoughts were full of those horrible days long gone, how she had believed she was getting old, when Ruby had actually been feeding from her. The very concept was disgusting, and Ruby had taken Sarah Jane to her 'secret cellar', to be absorbed by her stomach. But Clyde, then Rani and Luke had worked it out, Rani and Luke devising a way to bring Clyde back from that awful-looking prison pod, and come to rescue her.

Luke had come up with the brilliant idea to give Ruby what she wanted, but too much of it, which overloaded her systems, and consequently return all the energy she had taken.

Ruby was teleported back to her prison. And Clyde was splurged by the now shrunken stomach; typical! She didn't fee herself drifting off…

_She was returning to the house after a day's work. As she pulled up outside, she became aware that she was by herself. She shrugged off this thought; maybe she had insisted that this was an adults work, but why would Rani and Clyde agree not to come, they always were game for meeting, and potentially fighting aliens. She unlocked the door__ and stepped into the house, calling as she went, "Clyde? Rani? Are you there?". With no reply, Sarah Jane was finding this a little odd._

_She entered the attic, called upon Mr Smith and sat down at her desk._

"_Mr Smith, where are Rani and Clyde?"_

"_I thought you knew, Sarah Jane", the Xylok replied, seeming a little confused, "they are currently at University."_

"_What? No, they can't be! They were with me only yesterday!"_

"_That is not true, Sarah Jane, they have been gone for weeks."_

"_No.", whispered Sarah Jane, "This can't be real. I'm not the real Sarah Jane, you're not the real Mr Smith, and this whole world isn't the real one!"_

_Suddenly she heard a very creepy, slightly French, voice echoing around her._

"_Ooh, you're mind! I underestimated your mind, Sarah Jane Smith."_

_Sarah Jane turned around, and saw an all-too-familiar face._

"_Oh, not you again!"_

_The Nightmare Man stepped out of the shadows. "Yes, me again! I have been giving your leeeeeetle friends nightmares tonight, showing them their worst fear, and yours is being alone! Although, with that interfering Xylok, you aren't truly alone, are you?"_

"_No, please stop!", Sarah Jane knew what he was going to do before he did it. He pointed at Mr Smith and sparks literally flew from the super-computer, rendering him useless._

"_Now you are aloooooooooone!", he grinned, showing off his yellowing, rotten teeth to their full extent. Then, he dissolved into nothingness._

"_No! Come back, Nightmare Man! This is a dream, and I will wake up!"_

_She tried her hardest, pinching herself for about five minutes, before finally…_

Sarah Jane Smith woke up, extremely annoyed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Yup, chapter 5 already! This will probably be the penultimate chapter as I've had more ideas but I want to work on one at a time. Enjoy!**** SLIGHT FLUFF WARNING!**

**Disclaimer: I do not and never will own the Sarah Jane Adventures, unless anyone knows where RTD lives *whistles to summon private army* :) **

"So you can come down?"

"Yes, mum, it'll only take an hour for me to drive down, have you got my room ready?"

"Yeah, just how you left it.", Sarah Jane was feeling much better now she knew Luke, Clyde and Rani were coming to stay the night at her house. She didn't know if Clyde and Rani had been having nightmares (The Nightmare Man could have been lying), but Luke had said he'd had one the previous night.

"Bye, mum. I'll see you in about an hour." Luke hung up and Sarah Jane set about phoning Carla and Gita to make sure the kids were still able to make it.

That afternoon after school, Clyde and Rani were already there, and Luke was due to arrive any minute. Sarah Jane paced the sitting room, her hands behind her back. Clyde was passing the time in the kitchen, no doubt stuffing his face with biscuits, and Rani was sitting on the couch against the armrest, propped up on one elbow.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. It was Luke, praying this wouldn't turn out like his nightmare with Sarah Jane barely answering him. But the door was flung open almost immediately and he was pulled into a hug by Sarah Jane. Rani hugged him too, and Clyde said, "Good to see ya, mate!"

"It's great to be back.", he admitted, "I had a nightmare last night."

"So did I", Sarah Jane told him.

Both Rani and Clyde looked surprised as they replied simultaneously, "I did too."

"Sarah Jane", Rani began, "I think it was the Night…"

"…mare Man", Sarah Jane finished the sentence for her, "Yes, I actually saw him in my nightmare."

Clyde thought he should say something, so he spoke up, "But I thought he was trapped in the Burger Bar Nightmare"

"That's exactly what I thought", Luke pondered what could have happened, "Maybe he copied what I told you two", he pointed at Clyde and Rani, "to do to get out of your nightmares."

"Great.", muttered Clyde, "Return Of The Nightmare Man"

"So, mum, what was yours about?"

"Well, you all had gone to University, I only had Mr Smith for company and then The Nightmare Man himself turned up and broke Mr Smith. He said he was showing me my worst fear, that I was alone again."

"Hey", Luke said gently, "I'll never go far."

"Neither will we." Rani said, while Clyde nodded his agreement, "We'll go to Uni, obviously, but we'll be home at weekends and holidays and stuff. Luke, what about you?"

"Um, well, I dreamed that I had come back, none of you were happy to see me, Clyde had a new best mate, and I got kicked out of Oxford."

Clyde gave a low whistle, "Why'd you get kicked out of Oxford?"

"Too stupid."

"Luke, you are one of the smartest people in the world; if you're stupid, what does that make me, eh?" Clyde put it into perspective, "And you'll always be my best mate Luke, don't ever go forgetting that, yeah?"

"Yeah", Luke seemed a lot happier now.

Clyde turned his attention to Rani, "What about you?"

"Maria was back. She replaced me and nobody seemed to care about me. Sarah Jane was really cold to me, Luke ignored me and Clyde said I was…", but Rani caught Clyde's eye at this point, and couldn't say any more.

Noticing the awkwardness in the air, Sarah Jane decided to move swiftly on to Clyde's nightmare.

"Clyde?"

"What?", he asked defensively.

"Your nightmare?"

"Oh. I can't remember it", Clyde lied through his teeth. He could remember it very well. Part of him was jealous when Rani had gone and hugged Luke, but he had hid it very well. "Rani, shall we leave these two alone?"

"Yeah.", Rani was puzzled by Clyde's odd behaviour, but she saw this as an opportunity to tell Clyde the full extent of her nightmare.

Clyde led her into the attic, as far away from Luke and Sarah Jane as possible. "I was wondering whether I could have a private chat?"

"Ok. What's on your mind?"

"My nightmare." Clyde said uncomfortably.

"Oh, so you do remember it, then?"

"Yeah, all too well."

"So why didn't you say anything when we were with Luke and Sarah Jane?" Rani was confused, but glad Clyde had chosen to share his nightmare with her. "Go on then, I'm listening.", she said when he didn't answer.

"Well", he began, after taking a deep breath, "your dad was being really friendly towards me, you know, how he was towards Luke, and I was getting straight A's in Maths."

"How is that a nightmare?" Rani asked, a little bemused.

"'Cuz it's me. Getting straight A's. In Maths. Besides, that was the nicer bit."

"So what was the worst bit?"

"The worst bit. Ok." He was having trouble getting anything out now. Rani was looking at him, her eyes filled with curiosity and sympathy. He found himself getting lost in her eyes for a few seconds, but carried on, still looking directly at her.

"You and Luke were…um…like, a…couple." He looked away from her, his cheeks burning.

"The nightmare-you said that I had set you two up together, but I never would because…", he caught himself before he could say anything more.

Rani ignored his embarrassment, took a deep, steadying breath, and said, "Well, that could never happen, me and Luke, I mean."

His eyes snapped back to her. "Why not?"

"Because, well…I like…someone else." She looked at him steadily all this time, looking at his face to see what his reaction was. Right now, she could see sadness and disappointment.

"Oh." Clyde said, feeling downcast. She must like Finney or someone like that. "Who do you like then?"

"Wow, Clyde, sometimes you can be really thick!", Rani said, letting out a small laugh.

Clyde was about to protest when he suddenly registered that Rani was a lot closer to him that she had been.

Time seemed to stand still for a second or two, as Rani drew closer to Clyde, who seemed to be completely paralysed, and finally kissed him.

Clyde was blown away by the emotion in the kiss, but it took only a second for him to start kissing her back.

What Clyde and Rani didn't know was Luke and Sarah Jane, suspecting something like this was going to happen, had followed them and were standing in the door frame, as Clyde had forgotten to close the door behind them. When he thought the kiss had gone on for long enough, Luke cleared his throat and the now entwined Clyde and Rani broke apart immediately, but still held on to eachother.

"So much for a private chat, then!", Clyde stated the obvious.

"Didn't look much like chatting to me!", Luke exclaimed cheekily, "Looked more like kissing to me! Mum, I think you owe me a tenner."

"Oh ha ha, very funny, Luke", Rani said

Luke ignored this and carried on, "How do you keep going like that, do you breathe outta your ears or something?"

"Never mind how Clyde and Rani breathe!", Sarah Jane brought them all back to their senses, "We nee a plan to get rid of The Nightmare Man once and for all!"

**Did you like it? Should I put another chapter on how they get rid of The Nightmare Man. If so, any ideas?**

**You may have noticed a familiar line ("How do you keep going like that, do you breathe outta your ears?") came from the Doctor Who Christmas Special!**


	6. Chapter 6

**This may be the last chapter, probably but I'm not completely sure. Anyways, enjoy!**

Sarah Jane looked down on her son and her young friends like a Captain looks at their troops. Luke was sitting on the chair by the computer, seemingly deep in thought, which wasn't particularly unusual for him. Rani and Clyde were sitting on the sofa. Rani was thinking as well, with a slight frown on her face as she stared straight ahead of her. Clyde had his arm around Rani's shoulders, with a slightly dazed look on his face; Sarah Jane guessed he was still in shock after Rani kissed him.

"Ok, Luke, Clyde and Rani, this may be the end, but I want each of you to know that even though I may not have seemed interested in taking children on these 'work experience trips', all of you have saved my life more than once, and for that, you're brilliant. However, we'll need to be more than brilliant to have a chance of stopping The Nightmare Man tonight. You all know what to do, but in case you haven't been listening,", Sarah Jane looked accusingly at Clyde, "We need to get into the same nightmare, get anything we can on our side by any means necessary and kill The Nightmare Man. I know I'm not usually up for killing anything, but we have to, or he'll torture the young and old of every planet in the galaxy and beyond. Good luck to each of you, and I hope I'll see you later tonight."

It was five minutes to midnight and Luke, Sarah Jane, Clyde and Rani were all keeping themselves awake. Luke was e-mailing Maria on his laptop, Sarah Jane kept running the plan through her head, Clyde was drawing his comic strip, and Rani had her headphones in and was listening to music, which never calmed her down; Rani's theory was: If you're calm, you're way more likely to fall asleep.

Luke's e-mail read:

_Hi Maria, how's everything in the states? Guess what! I'm at home for the weekend. Mum called me back as she, Rani, Clyde and I have been having nightmares! We know it's The Nightmare Man and we're going to try and get him tonight, at midnight. There's only five minutes left before I can fall asleep, so I thought I'd e-mail you before I go._

_Here's the bad bit. I might never wake up. I know this isn't the best way to break it to you, BUT there's still a chance I'll be fine. Me, Sarah Jane, Clyde and Rani are all going to meet up in the same nightmare, and take out The Nightmare Man once and for all._

_Wish me luck!_

_Lots of Love,_

_Luke_

_p.s Rani ad Clyde FINALLY got together today!_

Four minutes to midnight.

Sarah Jane left the attic.

Three minutes to midnight.

Rani switched off her music.

Two minutes to midnight.

Clyde stopped drawing.

One minute to midnight.

Luke got an e-mail saying:

_Hi Luke! Best of luck, you can't fall asleep forever. If you don't e-mail me first thing in the morning and you're ok, I will kill you. Don't keep me waiting._

_Love,_

_Maria_

_p.s Congratulate Clyde and Rani for me for finally getting their act together!_

Midnight.

Luke closed his laptop, all four took a collective breath, and fell asleep exactly on schedule.

_Rani__ was trapped. A Slitheen, one of her most hated enemies, was walking slowly towards her. She had nothing, least of all acetic acid. The fat, green alien was only a few metres away now, so she decided to make a break for it. She dodged one way and then the other, trying to confuse it, then dashed forwards, narrowly avoiding the deadly claws._

_She ran as fast as she could in what seemed to be a massive warehouse, and saw three shapes on the ground. Running closer she could see it was Clyde, Luke and Sarah Jane, all motionless. _

"_No!", was all she could get out, she had been gasping for air after the long sprint, but now all the air she'd dragged into her lungs seemed to choke her. She reminded herself this was just a dream; it wasn't real. She recalled the plan. First she needed to take care of the Slitheen, and for that she would need concentration._

_Clyde was dressed in black. He looked down, confused. There were loads of people around him, mostly friends and family, but Rani, Luke and Sarah Jane were nowhere to be seen.. He looked around for Carla, his mum, but he couldn't see her anywhere. But his dad and his Auntie Mel were there, along with a small child, dressed from head to toe in black._

"_Finally", he said to himself, "I'm a Man In Black!"_

"_A little respect, son", his father said sternly, "I can't believe you. You're mother's dead and you're __**still**__ the class clown!"_

"_Well, I- wait, what did you say?" Clyde wasn't sure he'd heard right, "About mum?"_

"_Well, she's dead, isn't she? Killed in a road accident. That Sarah Jane at number 13 ran her over, didn't she?", Paul said in disbelief._

_Clyde was pretty disbelieving himself, until he realised that this was indeed a nightmare; Sarah Jane would never run his mum over._

_Luke was nowhere. All he could see was a vast expanse of white, as far as the eye could see. It was like that time that the Doctor showed up at his mum's wedding, and The Trickster had sealed them off in a time loop. Except this time he didn't have the Doctor; he had no-one. That was it. He needed to get out of there, and fast._

_Sarah Jane was conscious that she was lying on the ground. She quickly scrambled to her feet, wary that something was going to come at her. 'Ah, where am I?', Sarah Jane thought to herself. As it transpired, there was mist all around her, but when it cleared, she was somewhere she never thought she would have to be again; Ruby's 'secret cellar'._

_A woman's laugh echoed around her and Ruby White herself stepped out of the shadows._

"_Hello, Sarah Jane."_

"_But how can you be here", Sarah Jane asked, "I sent your prison pod out into space."_

_When Ruby didn't answer, Sarah Jane realised, "Of course, you're not real, this is just a nightmare!"_

_Ruby smiled evilly, "But you've now way of getting out._

"_Oh yeah, want a bet about that?"_

_Rani now had a super soaker loaded with vinegar, exactly like the one Sarah Jane had used on the double-barrelled Slitheen-Blathereen. She pointed it at the Slitheen which had now caught up._

"_I'm warning you, one more step and I'll…", Rani couldn't finish the sentence._

"_Oh, I don't think you will.", the Slitheen taunted her, much like one had taunted Maria all those years ago, using more or less the exact words (though neither of them knew that), "A Slitheen girl of your age would do it, never hesitate, which is why you have no backbone, and you lose!"_

_Rani, like Maria before her, was getting very angry now. 'No backbone'? Well, she'd prove she had backbone._

_The Slitheen continued, "That's why we win!", he finished with a flourish._

_Rani pressed the trigger, hard. She had no time to move away before the Slitheen exploded, covering her in green goo._

'_Hmmm, now I know he definitely wasn't a real Slitheen', she thought, 'they always say "Bum!" when they explode.'_

_She ignored that thought and began calling the others at the top of her voice, "CLYDE? LUKE? SARAH JANE?"_

_She heard three answering calls. Sarah Jane's voice rang out, "Alright everybody: phase two! Rani, are you all clear?"_

"_In a way", she muttered before raising her voice, "Yeah, all clear."_

_Before she knew it, three doors appeared in the warehouse. Three doors that had certainly not been there a few seconds ago. Out of those three doors burst Clyde, Luke and Sarah Jane. Luke and Sarah Jane immediately hugged eachother, whilst Clyde go within a metre of Rani, looking at the green goo. "Slitheen?", he asked._

"_Would it be anything else?"_

"_I'd hug you, but…"_

_He stopped talking because Rani, grinning evilly, had walked forwards and hugged him, and when they drew back, two people now had Slitheen goo all over their clothes._

"_Not cool, Rani, not cool!" _

_Rani just laughed._

_Sarah Jane had been watching the comings and goings with an air of amusement, but now announced, "Phase three!"_

"_What's phase three again?",. a voice asked, nobody was surprised to hear it was Clyde. Sarah Jane opened her mouth, but Luke answered word for word Sarah Jane's first briefing, "We call The Nightmare Man."_

_All four of them began shouting for The Nightmare Man, and presently they saw his trademark flash of purple as he landed from wherever he had come from._

"_Ah, your minds are all so strooooong! Which makes the nightmares all the more deeeeeeeelicious; all the things you have seen, it's a feast!"_

"_We're not scared of you, Nightmare Man, or should I say, Vishclave __**[not sure of the spelling]**__. Just go home or we'll have to do something" Sarah Jane handled the talking._

"_Let me think", The Nightmare Man pretended to think for a second, "No!"_

"_Don't say I didn't warn you! Everybody, now!"_

_All four humans shut their eyes and imagined causing the worst amount of damage possible to The Nightmare Man. Rani imagined having his organs ripped out. Clyde imagined his pale face turning red as his lungs stopped working. Luke imagined him being shunned by everything in the Universe. Sarah Jane imagined him, with a vindictive fury, being shut out of nightmares he wished to gain access to. Slowly, but surely, The Nightmare Man began to fade._

"_Nooooooo! I can't be erased, I can't!"_

'_Oh yes, you can!' all four thought collectively, 'and you will!'_

_When they opened their eyes, The Nightmare Man had gone. But a lingering voice remained, "My kind will avenge me, Sarah Jane Smith! And all of you brats!"_

"_Noted." Sarah Jane was fearless, "Right everybody stage four!" She gave Luke's arm a sly pinch. Luke reached out his hand to pinch Clyde, who backed away, only to be pinched on his other arm by Rani. Clyde pinched her back and they both disappeared. Luke and Sarah Jane shared a smile at their two friends, and disappeared too._

Sarah Jane woke up, smiling. As did Luke, Clyde and Rani. Sarah Jane emerged from her house to see Clyde and Rani kissing in front of Rani's open door, where Haresh stood watching, unnoticed by either of them. Sarah Jane caught Haresh's eye, mouthing 'leave them be.' He nodded reluctantly and stepped back inside number 36.

That afternoon found Sarah Jane, Clyde, Rani and Luke all in the attic, celebrating their victory with pizza.

Clyde spoke up, "Looks like it's not only the Groske who love pizza!"

And though none of the others knew exactly what he was talking about, they laughed so hard they nearly choked. Well, Sarah Jane did; she wasn't as used to eating pizza as the kids, and Luke thumped her on the back, grinning.

"Looks like we might need pizza insurance for a certain old lady!", Clyde said cheekily, earning himself a clip round each ear from both Sarah Jane and Rani.

"Ow!", he cried, rubbing his ear. Everyone laughrd even harder.

"Looks like we're all back to normal.", Luke mused. "Not quite!" Sarah Jane said quietly, inclining her head slightly to the couple on the sofa, who blushed slightly, grinning. "And besides", Rani said with a laugh in her voice, "We were never normal!"

**TA-DA! My first fic finished! Did you like the ending?**

**I don't think you can have a Raxicoricofallapatorious inhabitant without someone getting slimed, can you? Hoped you liked the clani element of it too. Until next time, folks: R&R! ;) **


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